How to Use Online Forums to Find Freelance Work
Earning a living as a freelance or ghostwriter may be a little challenging as the ability to earn money as a writer is still in its infancy. However, it seems freelance contractors are shifting a more mainstream position and possibly more lucrative. Since it is difficult looking for good websites and clients to write for that pay well, many people are finding forums the most beneficial way to discover good ways to make money in writing, graphic design, website design, and just about anything else you can think about that can be done online.
Forums Require Moderation and Users Must Follow Rules
People who use forums regularly pass on information about people or companies that hire freelancers, their pay practices, and their general reliability. Rather than cutting down your freelance pay to $4 an hour in some of the websites for authors, forums will allow you to weed out the "cheapsters" and find the people who desire good work and are willing to pay for it.I have seen clients asking for highly skilled and researched work for the most unrealistic low prices, and members of the forum have informed them that it was so low it was "not worth their time" and they were "insulting."
Search for Forums about Your Niche
Obviously, you will want to find a writer's forum that focuses on your niche. If you are a health writer, or specialize in technology, you are going to need to find that niche. Just by using your niche "phrase" in the search engine along with "forum" will help you find the forum you are looking for.
Use Forums from Companies or Websites You use to Find Work
Often, websites you find freelance work at will have forums that pertain to their company and other available opportunities for writers and designers. Use these forums to ask questions and get tips on finding work and getting personal clients that use you for direct orders.
Brand Yourself when You Sign Up for a Forum
When you join a forum, use a username that is related to what you do or the same name that will be recognizable as you get more popular in the freelance forums and marketing. By using the same name for each forum that you use on your work, you can become recognizable overtime and people may use your talent more readily if you are well known.
Signature: Freelance Writer of True Crime, War Stories and Mysteries
Carefully Select a Signature in the Forum
Make sure the forum allows you to use a signature that is professional, original and easy to remember. This is an important feature that you will use to get information and be contacted by clients or people asking you to join them in a writing team or team project. Read the guidelines in the forum carefully so you don't overstep boundaries or rules. If you cannot acquire a signature in a forum, its use for finding work will be limited. When using a photo or illustration for your signature, be sure you own the work and never display any one else's work that causes copyright issues and infringement. You will most likely be banned from the forum and suffer a loss of your reputation.
Consider a Logo
Create a Great User Profile
Fill out your profile and make it interesting. If possible, offer samples of your work on your website, writer's websites, and any other work you can share. Hubpages, Squidoo, helium, and other author sites become very useful here to use as samples of your writing ability. If your work is mostly freelancing or ghostwriting, you may not have any articles that you can share legally, so use your hubs and lenses with prospective buyers and employers. Also, include your:
- Professional Background
- What your interests or the focus of your writing includes
- Include contact information, but remember, you may be spammed!
- Add a professional photo of yourself that conveys a serious but original writer or designer with flair!
Join a Forum
Join a Forum
| Sign up
| Search for Work
|
|---|---|---|
Ask questions and learn where the best jobs are
| Share your information as well, become an asset to the forum
| Discuss your work and what your niche is dedicated to
|
Design a profile and signature that is recognizable
| Use the same photos and signatures to become branded in the freelance community
| Allow contact information but remember you may be spammed
|
Join as many useful forums as possible to find freelance work and get in contact with clients
| Continue to network and offer your services to other writers as well in teams and projects
| Read about payment practices and reliability of clients before joining their team or taking a job
|
Popular Freelance Forums to Check Out
whydowork.com is a great forum for people to connect that work at home. Network and interact with others that share their journeys and experiences with each other that work from their homes.
talkfreelance.com is a great forum to get hired, buy or sell goods, and just chat about graphic design, writing, web design, and other freelance jobs and services.
WritersWeekly.com is one of the best forums for freelance writers looking for jobs and learning tips in their niche.
WAHM.com is a working at home mom's forum about jobs in the home. But you don't have to be a mom to join, just a person interested in work at home jobs and freelance writing.
AllFreelanceWriting.com is a great place to find ghostwriting and other freelance jobs for writing, editing, and copy.
FreelanceSwitch.com has info on prospective clients, network chat, and tools and plugins for your business.
Men with Pens is an excellent site for freelance writers that want to find clients that are willing to pay for high quality work.
WritersForum is an excellent resource and forum for writers looking to make a good living as an author online and off.
